Electric door release mechanism



Dec. 29, 1936. H. F. KElL I 2,066,278

I ELECTRIC DOOR'RELEASE MECHANISM Filed April 18, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORN EYS Dec. 29, 1936. E 2,066,278

ELECTRIC DOOR RELEASE MECHANISM Filed April 18, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORY Hen/y if Keil BY v. A7 I Patented Dec. 2 I93 UNITED STATES PAT JI T OFFICE ELECTRIC DOOR RELEASE MECHANISM Henry F. Kcil, Scarsdale, N. Y., assignor to= Francis Kcil & Son, Inc., a corporation of New York Application April 18, 1935', Serial No. 16,987

2 Claims.

bolt of a lock on a door or like movable.or;swing-- ing part.

One of the objects of this invention is to provicle a releasable keeper construction inwhich,

accidental or unauthorized release of the keeper as, for example,.by vibration, jolting, or jarring rof the mechanism, itself: is precluded. ina thoroughly practical and dependable manner. Another object is to. providea construction of the above-mentioned character which will be inexpensive, capable of ready manufacture and assembly, anddependably foolproof in construction and action. Another object is to provide a construction of the above-mentioned character whichamay be reliably employed in apparatus or devices subjectedwto jarring, jolting,..vibration,.or the like, Without efiectinga tripping or, release of the keeper, and more particularly, to provide such a construction that will dependably guard against. such jarring, jolting, vibration, or. the

. like, irrespective of thedirection or directions in which they. act or are effective. Other objects. will be in part obviousor in partpointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists inthe fea- 4 tures of construction, combinations ofelements,

and arrangements of parts as will be exemplified in the structure to be hereinafter described and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the followingclaims;

In the accompanying drawings in which I have shown one of various. possible embodiments of the mechanical and-electrical featuresof my invention,

Figure l is a sectional view, which maybe COD? sidered va horizontal sectional view, through a frame, such as a door frame, and a member, such as a door, movable relative: thereto, illustrative of a practical installation embodying my invention, the sectional view of the keeper construction, as seen in Figure 1,, corresponding to the cross-section as'seen along the. line l-| of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the releasable keeper construction as his seen with one side wall or thecover plate of the casing thereof removed;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the keeper perse;

Figure; 4 is aperspective view of an armature which takes part in controlling the keeper;

Figure 5- is ,a perspective view of a trip lever through which the armature of-Figure 4 controls the keeper of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale, as seen along the line 6-6 of Figure 2, and

Figurel is..an:;elevation of certain of the elec- (Cl. YO- 52) tromagnetic mechanism, on an enlarged scale, as:

seen from the top of Figure 2.

Similar reference characters refer to similar partsthroughout the several'views of the drawings.

As conducive to a clearer understanding of.

certain features of my invention, reference might first bemade to Figure 1 in which I have shown. two members It and I l, typically a door anddoor frame, respectively, the door or member l0 being provided with any suitable bolt mechanism, usually of the latch-bolt type, and hence illustratively provided with a spring-projected latch= bolt ll. Any suitable means, such as a handle or knob l2, may be provided to operate the latch bolt l5 from-the inside of the enclosure of which the members It and I l-form a part, the mechanism or means being, however, of such a character that the bolt ll cannot be operatedfrom. the exterior of the enclosure, as by the knob,v

handle, or other device l3. Suitable-key-controlled means (not shown) may, of course, be and usuallyis provided for controlling the actuation of the bolt 1 E from the exterior.

The bolt II is spring-projected in back of a.

keepergenerally at 2| (Figure '1), the keeper 2|, however, being provided with means, hereinafter described, whereby it may be made releasable with respect to the bolt .H', from, any desired remote point. Installations of the general character above described are made, or are frequently necessary, in connection with enclosures, or the like, which, for various reasons, are of such a character or are placed in such use, that they are capable of being jarred or jolted or are actually subjected to vibration, jarring or jolting, frequently of. a character sufficient to causes the keeper-controlling mechanism to effect an accidental or an unauthorized release of the keeper. Sometimes the structures or apparatuses in which such installations are made are for temporary use only and are frequently somewhat flimsy, thus lending themselves .to such'accidental or unauthorizedrelease of the keeper as has just been mentioned. One of the dominant aims of this invention is to provide a releasable keeper in which such accidental or unauthorized release is dependably and reliably precluded.

Accordingly, the members It and M may, for purposes of better illustration, but-not by way of limitation, be. regarded as parts of such structures as have just been mentioned, and in accordance with certain features of my invention, I dependably preclude release of the keeper irrespective of the direction in which the forces or the impetus of any vibration, jarring, or jolting may be made to exert themselves. Now the keeper 2| is pivotally mounted in a casing generally indicated at l5 (Figures 1 and 2), and it has a lip 2 l which is exposed through a suitable recess or opening keeper 2| has its lip 2 ie exposed for coaction with the bolt ii of the door member i0.

In cross-section, as seen in Figure 1, the keeper 2| is generally T-shaped and its vertical leg 2| is provided with trunnions 2 I and 2| (see Figure 2 and also Figure 3), which are rotatably supported in suitable bearings. For details of the casing construction and of the bearings for this keeper member and other members about to be described, reference may be made to my co-pending application SerialNo. 757,292, filed December 13, 1934. I g

- To the left of the vertical leg portion 2 I of the keeper 2| (Figure 1) is an arm-like portion 2| which coacts with a trip lever 26 (Figures 1, 2 and 5)". The-trip lever 26 is provided with trunnions 26 and 26 whereby it is rotatably supported in suitable bearings in the casing construction, the axes of pivoting of the keeper 2| and the lever 26 being substantially parallel.

As is better shown in Figure 2, the member 26 comprises an L-shaped part or casting with the trunnions 26* and 26 in the respective ends of the long arm 26 thereof and with a mechanical contact member 21, preferably of a metal adapted to resist wear, such as hardened steel, set into a slot in the outer end of the short arm 26 This contact member 21 is to coact with the left-hand end portion 29 of an armature 29 (Figures 2 and l) provided with ears 2!! and 29 by which it is pivoted to an upstanding stud 28 (Figure 2) in the casing. Depending upon the position of the armature 29, the trip lever 26 is permitted or prevented, as later described, from swinging abou the axis of its trunnions.

Recurring to Figure 1, the left-hand arm 2| of the keeper 2| takes into a recess 26 in the trip lever 26, while the. keeper 2| is provided'with a recess 2| into which is seated one end of an expansible helical spring whose other end extends about and grips a stud 55 on the inside face of the coverplate 55 of the casing l5.

Spring 22 tends to move'and hold the keeper 2| in the position shown in Figure 1 and due to the connection 2| 26 the trip lever'26 is held in the position shown in Figure-2 in which the short arm 26 thereof virtually rests against the bottom wall of the casing I and thus positions the contact member 2'! so that the left-hand portion 29 (see Figure 4) of the armature 29 can take over the member 21, that end of the armature being cut out as at 29 to accommodate the member 21. Therefore, arm 26 (Figure 2) is held against swinging upwardly toward the observer, trip lever 26 is held in the position shown in Figures l and 2, being lockedvagainst rotation, and hence the keeper 2| is dependably held in the position shown in Figure lyaccordingly, the door or other member ID cannot be swung .open without either releasing the keeper 2| or withdrawing the bolt Theparts are held in the above described relation or position so long as the armature 29 remains in the position above described and better shown in Figure 2'from which it will be seen that a leaf spring 32 (see also Figure 4), secured to the armature as by a rivet 33, acts to hold the armature 29 in that position, the armature having a portion 2.! at its right-hand end (Figures 2 and 4) which abuts against the front wall 20 and thus limits the action of the spring 32 in swinging the armature 29 in counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 2.

If, however, and disregarding certain other features of my invention about to be described, the construction thus far described is given a blow or is jarred or subjected to sufilcient vibration, there is a real danger of bringing about the relatively slight clockwise swinging of the armature 29 (see Figure 2) necessary to cause the left-hand end 29 thereof to ride off of the contact member 2i! of the trip lever 26, and in such case release of the keeper 2| with subsequent release of the door H) is-eifected. Howeven and as already above indicated, my invention positively precludes any chance of such release.

Accordingly, it might first be pointed out, as already above inferred, that the armature 23 is movable in clockwise direction (Figure 2) by electromagnetic means preferably comprising a U- shaped coreof magnetic material, the core being made up of core legs 34 and 35 suitably secured as by riveting to, or heading over upon a cross core member 42 (Figures 1, 2 and 6). The cross core member 42 is inrthe form or a plate embedded, as by molding it into, in a wall member 44 of the casing 20, wall member 44 being made up of bakelite, hard rubber, fiber, or the like, and being provided with end flanges 44 -44 (Figure 2) and longitudinally extending flanges and 44, respectively, receivable in the end and top and bottom walls of the casing 20, all as more clearly described in my above-mentioned application. The core legs 34-35 are provided with windings 36 and 39, respectively, the latter being provided with suitable conductors (Figure 2) leading to binding posts or binding screws 45-46 (Figure 2) whereby the windings may be connected to the conductors 52-53 of the electrical circuit by or through which the energization of the magnet windings is to be controlled.

The relation of the parts is such, clearly shown in Figure 2, that the free ends of the core legs 34-35 are juxtaposed to the right-hand lever arm portion of the armature 29, spring 32 being interposed therebetween, and thus the armature 29 is made to form part of the magnetic circuit, the normal air gap between the armature and the core ends being lessened or substantially closed excepting for the brass spring 32, when the windings 36-39 are energized, thus releasing the trip lever 26. Deenergization of the windings permits the spring 32 ultimately to efiect return of the armature 29 to substantially the position shown in Figure 2.

However, the armature 29 (see now Figure 4) is provided with lateral extensions 29 and 29 alined crosswise of the armature and substantially midway between the ends of the cores 34-35 (Figures 2 and 6) andin these lateral extensions are provided recesses 6| and 62, respectively. V

Coacting with these two lateral extensions of the armature are stop or blocking members 63-64, respectively, better shown in Figure 6, and these stop members are yieldably mounted so as to assume positions normally out of respective juxtaposition to the recesses or apertures 6| and 62, Preferably I achieve this arrangement and action by causing the stop members 63 and 64 V to be constituted out of the free ends of a U- shaped strap 65, of relatively small cross-section, made preferably of spring steel. The member 65 has, therefore, upstanding spring arms 65'' and whose ends 63 and 64, respectively, form the above-mentioned stop membersand a base portion which extendscrosswise of the core part 42 inbetween. the core legs 34-35, beingsecured to thecorerpart 42 as-by a screw 66' (Figure 6). Asis-clearly indicated in Figures 2;. and 6,,the side. wall member 44 is slotted or cutaway so that the base portion 65 may be snugly seated against the core part 42 and also so that the U- shaped member 65 cannot rotate or be swung about'the axis'of the screw 66.

Normally, therefore, the stop members 63 and 64 are held by their respective arms in the positions, with relation to the armature 29, better shown in Figure v6. Stop member 63 is to the left of the recess 6| and stop member 64 is to the right of recess 62; The parts are so dimensioned (see Figures 2 and 6) that, with the stop members 63-64 positioned as just described, armature 29 can partake of substantially no movement in clockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 2, or downwardly, as viewed in Figure 6.

Accordingly, if it is attempted to trip the trip leverby jarring, vibrating, or jolting the mechanism, armature 29 is securely held by these stop members 63-64 against partaking of any movement in response thereto.

If the reaction of the jarring or jolting is in a direction normal to the planeof the paper as Figure 6 is viewed, the tendency is to bend the arms 65 -and 65 out of that plane. But the substantially rectangular cross-section thereof (see Figure 7) precludes such bending or movement and evenifittook place, the stop members 63-64 would simply be moved lengthwise of the lateral extensions of the armature 29 but still and always clear of the recesses 6l-62, respectively.

If the reaction of the jolting or vibrating force is in a direction from the left, as viewed in Figure 6, so as:to tend to swing the stop member 64 to the left, and toward juxtaposition to. the hole 62 .in the armature, stop member 63 is likewise in a stopping position even though the other stop.

members 64 might be brought into alinement with. the recess 62.

If the reaction of the jarring or jolting force'is towardthe right, as viewed in Figure 6, a reverse action from that just described takes place, and though stop member 63 might thus be brought toward juxtaposition to the recess 6|, the conipanion stop member 64 is not moved toward its recess 62 but in a direction always to keep it underneath the armature and in stopping position.

Accordingly, no matter what the direction of the reaction of any jolting or vibrating force may be, armature 29 is effectively barred from being thereby actuated to release the keeper.

Now these stop members 63-64 are, in accordance with other features of my invention, positively controlled and accordingly I arrange to move them toward each other, and hence in opposite directions, and into respective juxtaposition to the recesses 61 and 62 whenever it is desired, from the point of remote control, to actuate the armature 29 to release the keeper. This I achieve preferably by securing to the spring arms 65 and 65 (Figures 6 and 7) armatures 61 and :68,

' respectively, these being preferably in the form of bars preferably of a length to be brought into coaction with both core members 34 and 35. They may be secured to-the spring arms in any suitable manner; illustratively, each armature 61-68 may be provided with a slot in its side positions.

snugly to receive the arms 65 and 6,5 ;respec-- tively, beingsecured thereto as by riveting, clamping or any other suitable means.

Thereby-the armatures 6! and 68 extend across the free endsof' the windings 36 and 39 but each toone side of the free ends of the cores 34-35 which are, as is better shown in Figure 7, preferably cut away along chords of their circular cross-section, thereby to provide flat side faces for better coaction with the armatures. 6:1 and 68 Also, I preferably mount pins 69 (Figure 7) in the respective ends of' the armatures 61-68, making the pins of a suitable non-magnetic material, such as brass; and allowing themor their headstoiv project. slightly from those faces of the two armatures which would otherwise contact the fiat faces of the cut away ends of the cores 3113-35..

Thereby, I assure that, when the armatures 61-69 are drawn toward the cores 34-35, there remains a slight air gap between them and'the cores as determined by the protruding portions of the pins 69,.and thus the sticking or freezing of the armatures to the cores is dependably prevented.

Accordingly, when the windings 36-39 are energized, the armatures 67-68 are quickly and promptly drawn toward each other, thereby moving the stop members 63-64 (Figure 6) into juxtaposition to the recesses til-62, respectively, thereby quickly removing them out of. stopping This action takes place very rapidly for the armatures 61-68, where they extend into coacting relation to both the core legs 33-35, are positioned in the air gap across the latter, and thus there is available a powerful magnetomotive force to start them moving and to move them out of: stopping position. Also, a number of auxiliary or independent magnetic circuits, of which the U-shaped member 65 where the latter is made of spring steel, forms. a part, are brought into action.

However, the, brass or non-magnetic pins 69 (Figures '7 and 6) also act to maintain a sufficient air gap between the armatures 61-68 and the cores 34-33 so as not to shunt away so much magnetic flux as would make what is left insuflicient to actuate the armature 29; accordingly, the actuation of the armature 29 follows quickly and dependably the actuation of the much lighter and smaller. armatures 67-66, and thereby the armature 29 swings in clockwise direction (Figures 2 and l). to release the trip lever 26 and hence to release the keeper 2|. 7 3

Accordingly, upon swinging, the door or-other member ll) (Figure 1) upwardly, as viewed in Figure 1, keeper 2! swings to the left against the action of spring 22 and swings the trip lever 26 in clockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 1, its short arm 26 (Figures .2 and 6) swinging upwardly, having been released by the armature 29; its range of swing is, however, limited by the projection 26 thereof (Figures 1 and 5) which contacts the top Wall of the casing i5, and these actions of the keeper 2! and of the trip lever 26 are made to bring about the prevention of a counter-clockwise swinging of the armature 29 (as viewed in Figures 2 and 4) under the action of the armature spring 32. This I achieve by providing the left-hand end of the armature 2-9 (see Figure 4) with a transverse extension 29 as by bending or stamping a portion of the strap metal of which the armature 29 may be made out of its plane and providing that extension 29 as is well shown in Figure 4.

This curved camedge '29 is of such extent and such curvature that, with the armature 29 in actuated position, this face 29 defines the locus of movement of the end edge of the contact member 27 (Figures 2 and 5) of the trip lever; accordingly, once the trip lever is released by the armature 29, the member 21 of the former always maintains contact with this cam face 29 no matter what its position about the axis of swinging of the trip lever 26, within the range of swinging movement of the latter. And thereby the armature 29 cannot return to its normal position (the position shown in Figure 2) so long as the keeper 2| is itself not returned to its own norma position (the position shown in Figure 1).

By this action, therefore, the stop members 6364 (Figure 6) remain entered into the recesses 9i and 52, respectively, and are thus prevented from interfering with the subsequent resetting of the trip or contact member 21 ofthe trip lever 25 with respect to the notch 29 of the armature. Furthermore, and bearing in mind that the energization of the windings 36-39 is usually controlled by a push button and that the operator, as is customary and common practice, rarely holds the push button'switch in actuated position but rather gives the push button switch a series of short successive actuations and thereby sends into the windings 36-39 a like succession of impulses, it will be seen that the armature 29 would have to follow these impulses with results somewhat like these:--Upon the first impulse,

stop members 63-64 are drawn out of stopping positions and armature 29 is actuated to release the trip lever 26; if the door I is immediately moved so as to move the keeper 2| and the trip lever 26, the cessation of that first impulse, ort of the last of the series of impulses, would cause the deenergization of the windings with the restoration of the armature 29 to its normal position, as shown in Figure 2, and with the restoration of the stop members 63-64 to stop positions as shown in Figure 6, The stop members 6364 would thus efiectively block such movement of the armature 29 as would be necessary to reset the trip member 21 with the notch 29d of the armature 29, and thus resetting of the keeper 2i could not be achieved and keeper 2| would remain released.

However, the actuation of the keeper 2|, as already described, due to its ooactions with the armature 29 by way of the trip or contact member 21 and the cam face 29 of the armature, insures that, no matter whether the push button switch or other control effects energization of the windings by one long impulse of electrical energy or by a long or short series of short impulses, such undesirable stopping action of the stop members 83-434 is precluded and dependable and reliable resetting of the mechanism with consequent dependable anchoring of the keeper 2] itself is insured.

Thus, it will be seen that there has been provided in this invention a constructionin' which the various objects heretofore noted, together with many thoroughly practical advantages, are successfully achieved. It will be seen that the construction is dependably fool-proof and tamperproof, is of dependable action, and is of simple yet reliable construction.

As manypos'sible embodiments-may be. madeof the above invention and asimany; changes might be made in the'embo'diment above set forth, it is to be understood that .alllinatter hereinbefore'iset forth, or shown in the accompanyingdrawings, is, to be interpreted as illustrative andtnot: inia limiting sense, I a i a t Iclaimr P 1 j 1. In construction ofi-thecharac-ten described in which there is a movable;member-titer c'oacting with a door bolt or latch, 'an electromagnet, a pivoted armature thereforya' movable armature stop for holding'said armature against actuation in response to said electromagnetgsaidstop having means operativelyi related to saiduele'ctro magnet for moving said stop out of-" armature stopping position in response to said electromagnet, saidstop and said armature having'coacting portions such that said-armature holds said stop in actuated positi'on'ifsaid armature isheldin actuated position, and a trip movable .with said member but normally held against movement by said armature, said trip having aicertainrange of movement s'ubsequentto its releasesby said armature after the latter is actuated by' said electromagnet, the combination with said tripand movable armature of :cam means and follower means, one related-to fsaid=-armature and-the other related to saidmovable trip, and having a range of action 'comrnensurate withwthe range of movement of said movable armature subsequent to actuationof the'latter by said electromagnet for holding said armature inactuated 'po sition throughout'the range of movement :ofsaid movable trip, and thereby holding said armature stop ineffective, throughout all positions ofvsaid movable member beyond' orout o f'its noi'mallposipivoted armature therefor', a'movable' armature stop for holding saidarrnatur'eagainst actuation in response to said electromagnet, said'stop having means operatively related to. 'said lectro'mag net for moving said stop out of armature-stopping position in response to saidblectromagnet,

said stop and said armature having fcoactinglpormagnet, said trip being pivotally mounted to swing about an axis at right angles to the axis of pivoting of said armature, the combination with said armature andsaid. trip of an arcuate cam carried by said armature and of an arcuate extent equivalent to the range of'swing' of said trip about'its axis subsequentgto release of, -sa id trip by said armature, actuation of said armature bysaid electromagnet positioning saidj cam to permit swinging of said trip about its axis and said cam having such a curvature that retrograde movement of said armature is blocked by said cam and trip throughout the operative range of swing of said trip subsequent to its release. 

